Drogba stands tall for Chelsea

By Trevor Haylett

When a player arrives with a €35m price tag, supporters have little sympathy for pleas that he needs time to adapt to a new team, a new country and a new language. When the newcomer is a striker with a goalscoring reputation they expect him to find the net quickly and with regularity.

Teething problems
It is fair to say that the fans of Chelsea FC did not immediately take Didier Drogba to their hearts. He clearly needed time to settle after his move from France and players of his size can too often be dismissed as awkward and clumsy before they have found their touch and won acceptance.

Meteoric rise
One goal in his first five outings had some supporters wondering if their money had been invested wisely. Students of the European scene noted that it was only last year with Olympique de Marseille that Drogba had really emerged as a prolific goalscoring machine. Was he, as some feared, a one-season wonder?

Settling down
The doubters have largely been silenced now. While his finishing is occasionally awry, the Ivorian has proved himself as a big-game player, scoring against Liverpool FC as Chelsea won the English League Cup, and as the campaign has gone on the 27-year-old's height and physical strength has become more of an asset.

Bayern example
He might not possess the flair of Joe Cole, the trickery of Arjen Robben or the all-round talent of Frank Lampard but as Chelsea won 4-2 in the first leg of UEFA Champions League quarter-final against FC Bayern München, it was Drogba who was singled out as José Mourinho's side's most potent threat.

'Creating trouble'
Bayern midfield player Owen Hargreaves said: "It all came down to Drogba flicking the ball on and creating trouble for us. It was the only way Chelsea were going to trouble us, they did not worry us on the deck or by passing it around and creating chances. With Drogba flicking the ball on Chelsea were then quickest to the second ball. Three or four of their goals came that way and we will have to find a way to stop them in the second leg."

Long balls
Felix Magath's side will have been taking extra care in training to find a way to neutralise the aerial threat posed by Drogba's and Chelsea's direct tactics. Long ball football gave Chelsea their first breakthrough and after Bastian Schweinsteiger had equalised for Bayern, similar tactics brought them a second goal. Glen Johnson's high ball found Drogba, and the centre-forward's header was directed astutely towards Lampard who made it 2-1.

Useful instinct
"I heard him," Drogba said of Lampard's first immaculate strike. "And he knows that when I am jumping I always try to find someone with the ball. He's very clever and it's not the first time he has scored a goal like that. He knows how I play."

Crowning goal
The scoreline quickly moved on to 4-1 with Drogba himself scoring the fourth from close range after Lampard had doubled his tally. Michael Ballack's late penalty gave Bayern hope for the second leg, but Drogba seemed reasonably calm as he looked ahead to tonight's tie.

Important spur
"It was a tough game and Bayern played well," he said. "Maybe we needed them to score [their first goal] because after that we played better and had a lot of chances. We are quite happy with the result but there is a second leg still to come. We have to score in Munich and try not to concede a goal."